Search - Shallow Hal

Jack Black continues his march to stardom with this typical Farrelly brothers blend of broad comedy and a heartfelt message. Black is Hal Larsen, a shallow man rapidly approaching middle age whose superficiality can be attributed to his father's deathbed admonition to only date young, beautiful women. Hal and his best friend, Mauricio (Jason Alexander), have taken the advice to heart, but Hal finds all of his physically impressive girlfriends consistently lacking in other qualities that would make them ideal mates. When he bumps into self-help guru Tony Robbins (playing himself), the motivational entrepreneur is intrigued by Hal's predicament and hypnotizes him so that he'll only see the inner beauty of women. Hal is quickly smitten with Rosemary Shanahan (Gwyneth Paltrow), a blonde Peace Corps volunteer who's tenderhearted, funny, and intelligent. She is also gorgeous and meets Hal's basic criteria of outer perfection, but what he doesn't realize is that Robbins' spell is working and he cannot see that Rosemary actually weights 300 pounds. When Mauricio is finally able to snap Hal out of his charmed state, Hal's in love with the inwardly perfect woman and must overcome his obsession with beauty. The script for Shallow Hal (2001) was developed when Peter Farrelly enjoyed the humorous letters written to a mutual friend by Sean Moynihan, a computer software executive who followed the filmmaker's advice to take up screenwriting. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Gwyneth Paltrow - Rosemary Shanahan
Jack Black - Hal Larsen
Jason Alexander - Mauricio
Joe Viterelli - Steve Shanahan
Rene Kirby - Walt

Comedy is measured in laughs, not weight, in the Jack Black comedy Shallow Hal. Fox has done a passable job on this 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, though overall this is an only mediocre effort. While the colors and black levels are all mostly solid and detailed, a fair amount of edge enhancement and haloing show up in multiple spots. The soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround in English. This is an adequate sound mix that aptly supports the film. There are a few directional effects to be found here, though nothing that would constitute a thoroughly exciting track. All aspects of the mix are free and clear of any hiss or distortion. Also included on this disc are Dolby 2.0 Surround tracks in Spanish and French, plus English subtitles. Fox has made sure this DVD is worth its weight in extras, starting with a commentary track by Peter and Bobby Farrelly. While this commentary is full of funny and amusing anecdotes about the production, overall there isn't a lot of technical information to be found here. An HBO special titled "Being Shallow Hal" features actress Brooke Burns interviewing people on the street about being shallow, as well as some clips from the film. This is a fluffy yet entertaining piece that should please fans looking for a few more chuckles. "Reel Comedy: Shallow Hal" is a 22-minute piece that doesn't give one much insight on the making of the film -- it's basically an extended trailer. Next up are some deleted scenes with optional director's commentary. Some of these cut sequences are fun, though most were rightly left on the cutting-room floor. Two featurettes give the viewer a rather neat look at the special effects and body suits used in the movie ("Seeing Through the Layers" and "In the Deep End"), allowing a rare peek into the effects department. Finally there is a music video by Shelby Lynne for the song "Wall in Your Heart," a 30-second promo for the film's soundtrack, a non-anamorphic theatrical trailer, and various trailers for other Fox films. ~ Patrick Naugle, All Movie Guide

These movies are similar to Shallow Hal...
51	All of Me (PG)
28	Blind Date (PG-13)
18	Switch (R)
130	There's Something About Mary [Special Edition] (R)
169	What Women Want (PG-13)
16	Say it Isn't So! (R)
149	Anger Management [Fullscreen] (PG-13)
165	Something's Gotta Give (PG-13)
220	50 First Dates [Widescreen] (PG-13)
157	The 40 Year-Old Virgin [Rated] (R)
60	Just Friends (PG-13)
20	Grandma's Boy [Widescreen] (NR)
28	School for Scoundrels [Widescreen] [Rated] (PG-13)
126	Knocked Up [HD DVD] (NR)
68	I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry [Widescreen] (PG-13)
28	The Heartbreak Kid [Widescreen] (R)
4	The Hottie and the Nottie (PG-13)